I applied for a sales position with this company after reading their ad on Craig's List. When I called about the ad I was told that they offered salary and commission. After two interviews I was invited to attend what I was told would be a 3-day paid training.
The first day of training was nothing short of a joke and I must say that I am embarrassed to have even returned the following day. We spent the first day being introduced to the various "team leaders". They each took their turn at the front of the room telling us about their exploits with the company CEO.By exploits I am referring to picking up women and drinking.
They had a continual focus on redundantly reminding us of their affiliation with the energy company SUEZ Group. The second day, half of the trainees had not returned. They proceeded to train us on how to go door-to-door saying this speech about electric deregulation with the goal of securing the businesses electric bill.
The training was remarkably confusing. We would sit there for 1/2 hour at times waiting for someone to come and continue the training process. Eventually someone would return, only it would be a different person. The office is very disorganized.
Different people would walk in and out of the training and whoever was training us at that moment would go on and on about how much money that person had made or was going to make on some "pending" deal.
Still, I was going to be paid for training so I stayed. Sure, they were disorganized but I would be paid despite their ridiculous methods.
The cult-like atmosphere of the office was amazing. If you so much as disagreed with anything they would look give you this very strange look which is difficult to describe. You are required to be 100% conforming. Kind of zombie-like.
After the second day we were given a script to memorize. A presentaion of sorts. Never did anyone say that it needed to be remembered by the end of the week. The training is very intense and stressful and even the most intelligent person would probably have had a problem with it.
One lady in my group was so nervous about being hired. She was trying so hard.
We had to stand in a line and take our turn over and over again repeating the script until we got it right. Again, it takes more than these people to intimidate me so I stayed.in the end if they didn't hire me I would be paid for my time.
They are overwhelming with their tactics. What they do is sprinkle kindnesses in to get you to stay. They ordered our lunch in one day and took us out for lunch another. I am yet to figure out their agenda.
The scam is that you will never be paid for training after enduring a tremendous amount of stress that you assume will end in a job. I did not get so far as to realize whether they would really pay a salary. It turned out that I was there for 3.5 days.in the middle of that final day they called each of us seperately into the office and told us that since we did not memorize the entire script that working for them was not the right fit.
After I left I called back inquiring about being paid for training. One of the "team leaders", who by the way had someone else do his dirty work in letting us go, told the receptionist to tell me that the training is only paid when you complete the entire 5 days and are certified.
Certified? I had never heard the word.
Do not bother with this company. Their motives are difficult to figure out. Everything they say is inconsistent with something that was said previously. The chance you will take is whether you will get paid. They also have people sprinkled in the office as "moles". We found out by accident that someone who was training with us was actually already a sales rep with them.
People would constantly walk in and out and it became obvious that they were listening for information to report back. Their games are ridiculous.
If you are seriously looking for a job in these tough economic times do yourself a big favor and trust my judgment. These people need to be reported for employment scamming. Look elsewhere and good luck.
Joanne
Chicago, Illinois
U.S.A.
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